Dhaka, Bangladesh

On December 4th the Shishu Tori office had visitors from the streets, we had eight street children in our office that had come to paint and make handicrafts, which we displayed and sold in a stall at an exhibition in the International School of Dhaka (ISD) on Friday the 7th of Dec. The street children were enjoying their time in the office and I was creating jokes and played with them. It was a real nice day.

A few days later, on the 7th of December at 7:30 in the morning I, Kanta and Nilufar had breakfast in Nilufar’s house and approximately one hour later we left for the exhibition in ISD (International School of Dhaka). This day Shishu Tori displayed its work and also sold items made by the street children; cards, dolls, paintings etc. We also displayed all my 23 pieces of framed photos that I have donated. Several interested people came up to us and discussed our work and we also sold several items. When the clock was after 5 pm (one hour after closing time), then we packed all our things and left the exhibition. Even national TV came and shot our stall, which they broadcasted the following day. It was a successful day, but I was very tired that day as I didn’t sleep one minute the night before.

Last week I worked in the Shishu Tori office with a budget and other assignments. We also held a monthly staff meeting last Tuesday.

I received some mail last week and this week as well from both family and relatives, I really enjoy receiving mail, it feels more special holding something in your hand while reading somebody’s handwriting.

On Thursday the 13th of Dec, Saint Lucy’s Day, I was invited to a Lucia reception by the Swedish ambassador. I brought Nilufar with me and we went to the reception for a little more than two hours. They had decorated the garden with lights real nicely and it gave the whole place a real cozy atmosphere. We were given both typical Swedish Christmas food and Bangladeshi snacks. There was also a Lucia procession with the children singing Christmas carols. Afterwards we mingled and met with several interesting people from both organizations and companies. I really enjoyed my time that evening.

The following day I was invited to a lunch in a house belonging to Kanta’s relatives in an area called Mohammadpur. We got there and I started talking to some of her relatives immediately, it was a house with a very warm spirit. We had a big and great lunch, laughed and talked for hours. We stayed there for six hours, then Kanta and I continued to a Milad (anniversary of death) at Nilufar’s house.

This past Saturday I did a surprise visit in Kawran Bazar to check how the class at School Under the Sky was going. I also met with Debashish there, we then walked to Bashundara City and I did some shopping. It’s a very big shopping mall, the largest one in South Asia. The mall has 8 floors and space for 2500 retail stores. We left after a couple of hours of shopping, just before 7 pm, and I went home to my place. Later in the evening and at midnight I went up on the terrace to put up Bangladeshi flags with children from the building, as it was Victory Day on the 16th of Dec.

That same day, the 16th of Dec was Amirsohel’s (Ashu) birthday. We (I and Alexzandra) gave him five computer games, as he loves to play games. My mother had sent him some nice books. I had a great time with his family, friends and relatives. We were served wonderful food the whole day. I spent seven hours in Ashu’s home. When I got home that evening I was really tired after being to several invitations for the past four days.

A small notice; during the month of December this Diary has had approximately 110-115 unique visitors every day.

Where there is a will there is a way…and the way is leading us to…

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